View full sizeEliot Kamenitz, The Times-PicayuneGov. Bobby Jindal speaks at a news conference with members of the National Commission on BP Deepwater Horizon Oil Spill and Offshore Drilling, including commission Co-chairman Bob Graham.

Speaking at a news conference after meeting with two members of the National Commission on BP Deepwater Horizon Oil Spill and Offshore Drilling, Jindal also praised the president for his visit to New Orleans on the fifth anniversary of Hurricane Katrina.

"Any time the president comes down here, I think that's a good thing for New Orleans, that's a good thing for Louisiana," Jindal said. "It once again helps to focus the national spotlight on the recovery from this oil spill."

Jindal said he appreciated the president mentioning the administration's commitment to restoring the state's wetlands, but felt he could have gone further.

"When it comes to coastal restoration, I would have liked to have heard more specifics and a greater sense of urgency," Jindal said. For example, he said, the president could have responded directly to a bipartisan letter sent to the administration last week from the state's congressional delegation, state and local officials and several environmental groups that called financing coastal restoration projects with money BP is likely to pay to mitigate the effects of the spill.

"The administration in generic terms has said they're in favor of a majority of BP's funds being used to help restore the Gulf Coast, but there haven't been specifics," Jindal said. "I think it could have been a great opportunity for the president to come out and say a majority of the funds will be used quickly, and he could have even said, for example, we propose 80 percent of the funds be used for coastal restoration."

Jindal also liked Obama's strong statement that the administration would continue to hold BP accountable for the effects of the spill.

And he appreciated that the president twice chowed down on Louisiana seafood -- during a Saints celebration at the White House two weeks ago and on Sunday at the Parkway Bakery in New Orleans before his Xavier appearance.

"I think it's great to have the president of the United States telling the country it's safe to eat this seafood, he's eating it himself," Jindal said.

What was missing, Jindal said, was a public backing of the state's request that BP pick up the tab for a comprehensive seafood testing program that, combined with enough money to market and brand Gulf seafood caught by fishers from Louisiana and other Gulf Coast states, could reverse dramatic declines in revenue for the fishing industry, he said.

"Our number one priority with BP at this moment is getting them to commit to seafood testing, to the seafood certification plan, and we've been talking to the administration about this for a number of weeks, we've been talking to BP about this for months," Jindal said. "Would have loved to hear the president call on BP to do the right thing, to step up to the plate, to commit to this plan. I think it would have put even more pressure on BP to go ahead and do the right thing."

What was completely missing from Obama's speech was discussion of the moratorium on offshore drilling and the effects it is having on Louisiana jobs, Jindal said.

"There was no discussion of the moratorium, no acknowledgement of the impact the moratorium is having on our economy, on our people and on the reality that our people don't want a BP check or an unemployment check," Jindal said. "They want to go back to work."

Even if the president wasn't ready to lift the moratorium, Jindal said, he should have outlined the process the administration will use to determine when drilling can resume, to "give people more certainty and predictability about how that moratorium could be lifted in favor of specific regulations."

View full sizeEliot Kamenitz, The Times-PicayuneGov. Bobby Jindal, Lafourche Parish President Charlotte Randolph, and retired Sen. Bob Graham of Florida hold a news conference on the moratorium on deepwater drilling in the Gulf of Mexico.

Jindal's remarks came after a 45-minute meeting with retired Sen. Bob Graham, D-Fla., chairman of the oil spill commission, and commission member Terry Garcia, currently executive vice president of the National Geographic Society and a former assistant secretary for oceans with the Department of Commerce, where Jindal brought up the same three issues: drilling moratorium, seafood testing and promotion and coastal restoration.

Also in the meeting were Plaquemines Parish President Billy Nungesser, St. Bernard Parish President Craig Taffaro Jr., Lafourche Parish President Charlotte Randolph and board and staff members of the Louisiana Seafood Marketing and Promotion Board.

Graham said the seafood issues and coastal restoration are being considered by the commission, and that while the moratorium is not part of the commission's charge, its members are aware of its effects.

"We have recognized its importance to the people of this community and the fact that the moratorium needs to be treated as that, a pause and not a 'game over' for this region," Graham said. "And I hope that through some of our actions to date we have been of some assistance in that. We will continue to do so."

Graham was referring in part to a preliminary report last week that it had requested from the Bipartisan Policy Center that concluded the "moratorium has served the productive purpose of allowing time for both industry and government to prepare for a safer, more vigilant, and dependable future for U.S. offshore drilling," and that new, higher standards imposed by the Department of Interior since the moratorium was imposed "will achieve a significant and beneficial reduction of risk" and "will provide an adequate margin of safety to responsibly allow the resumption of deep water drilling in the Gulf of Mexico."

The seafood officials urged the commission to support increased monitoring of seafood safety and money to pay for both the monitoring and promotion of the state's seafood. They also stressed the need for a quick end to the moratorium.

Graham suggested that one way to promote the Gulf's seafood as safe would be to hold a seafood cooking contest in conjunction with this year's football game between Louisiana State University and the University of Florida, which will be in Gainesville, Fla. on Oct. 9.